Dilip Cherian Blog

Cherian's Choice

Jet falling into SBI’s lap for eventual sale has drawn more attention to the reappointment of Ashwani Lohani as chairman and managing director of Air India and it continues to be talked about in babu circles. Mr Lohani had already served as CMD of Air India before being appointed as Chairman of the Railway Board, an ex-officio post of principal secretary. So why did Mr Lohani accept the Air India post which is of the additional secretary level and that too for a mere year? It is after all uncharacteristic of the Modi sarkar to effect this post-retirement reappointment when it always tries to convey its belief in the stability of administration.
Some babu observers believe that Mr Lohani has been brought back to complete the disinvestment process in Air India, in case the NDA government returns to power after the general elections.
It is said that employee unions were still a roadblock to the divestment of Air India, slowing down the winding up process. However, since Mr Lohani is widely known to enjoy the respect and confidence of Air India employees, it is likely that the government is looking at him to help to smoothen the mammoth task of divestment.